506 Items Tagged

Death

Octopuses investigate the skeleton of a whale at a whale fall site off the California coast.

There Are More Whale Falls Off Los Angeles Than the Rest of the World Combined

The surprising discovery reveals how much we don't know about the deep ocean and its residents.

Douglas Main July 22, 2024

Canneto sull'Oglio, Italy

Chiesa di Santa Croce detta "Dei Morti"

Photographs of the faces of the town's dead cover the walls of this small Italian church.

Site of La Morgue de Paris

The location of this small park was once the site of an infamous public morgue.

Roskilde, Denmark

Grave of the Hel-Horse

According to legend, this is the burial place of a mythical three-legged death omen horse.

Bali's Massive Stone Sarcophagi Included Global Grave Goods

Mirrors from China, glass beads from Roman Egypt, and other treasures from far-flung places accompanied ancient Balinese elites to the afterworld.

Nicky Nielsen June 5, 2024

Rabbits Are Creatures of the Underworld According to Ancient Fears

From Ancient Egypt to 'Donnie Darko', beware the bunny.

Charis McGowan May 1, 2024

Podcast: Killer Trees with Mary Roach

Danger trees meet explosives.

The Podcast Team April 25, 2024

Remains of whalers' wooden coffins and gravestones at Smeerenburg, in the northwest region of the Svalbard Archipelago.

Svalbard's Lonely Whaler Graves Included Burial Kits With Pieces of Distant Homes

For centuries, the cruel industry decimated entire whale species—and claimed countless human lives. Whalers arrived prepared for their own deaths.

Nicky Nielsen April 17, 2024

Warnford, England

Grave of George Lewis

This gravestone tells the tragic tale of its occupant's death.

medical museums

Podcast: A Journey Through Death With Joanna Ebenstein

What does our fascination with mortality reveal about who we are?

The Podcast Team March 29, 2024

St. Thomas am Blasenstein, Austria

Luftg'selchter Pfarrer (The Air-Dried Priest)

In a crypt underneath this church lies a naturally mummified vicar whose story is surrounded by mystery.

An overhead view of modern excavations at Tell el-Retaba, an ancient fortress that was part of Egypt's Ways of Horus military route. Teams digging here have unearthed human remains interred in ceramic jars, or pots.

In Ancient Egypt, Jar Burials May Have Helped the Dead Be Reborn in the Afterlife

First found at the ancient fortress of Tell el-Retaba, child burials in ceramic jars perplexed early archaeologists.

Nicky Nielsen March 6, 2024

An Arctic tern in flight; the seabirds were a critical source of food for the Beothuk people of Newfoundland, and also likely inspired some of their funerary traditions.

In Newfoundland, a Bird Spirit May Have Guided a Lost Culture's Dead

For centuries, the Beothuk people relied on seabirds to survive—and likely to find their way to the afterlife.

Nicky Nielsen February 7, 2024

The local coroner’s report was once classified and now can be yours for a cool $80,000.

For Sale: President William McKinley’s Top-Secret Autopsy Report

After McKinley’s assassination, a local Buffalo coroner was called in to tell the nation how the 25th president died.

April White February 6, 2024

An 18th-century depiction of the <em>tsuchinoko</em>, also called <em>bachi hebi</em>, a snake-like Japanese cryptid.

Wonder Is Everywhere: A Jumping Japanese Cryptid, Ancient Amazonian Cities, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.

April White February 2, 2024

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Telephone of the Wind

An outlet for connecting to memories of lost loved ones and saying goodbyes you never got to say.

The Middle Ages were rife with murder tales, such as the murder of seventh-century King Candaules of Lydia (shown here in this 15th-century illustration by Maître François).

How a Medieval Murder Map Helped Solve a 700-Year-Old London Cold Case

It all started as a Cambridge criminologist’s macabre hobby.

Sofia Quaglia January 25, 2024

A detail from a third-century mosaic depicting two gladiators in combat from the House of Gladiators on Cyprus.

The Surprising Roots of Ancient Rome's Gladiator Fights

The quintessential Roman spectacle, originally a way to honor the dead, was not Roman in origin.

Nicky Nielsen January 9, 2024